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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/22933510">Be My Valentine</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/you_and_bucky/pseuds/you_and_bucky'>you_and_bucky</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>(Y/N) Barnes [5]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Marvel Cinematic Universe</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Angst, F/M, Reader-Insert</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-02-28</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-02-28</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-01 07:27:58</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,033</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/22933510</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/you_and_bucky/pseuds/you_and_bucky</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <b>TIMELINE 2013</b>
</p>
<p>It is your second Valentine's Day since waking up in the 21st Century and while it was once a day that inspired excitement, now all it brings is pain.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>James "Bucky" Barnes/Reader</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>(Y/N) Barnes [5]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1647448</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>22</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Be My Valentine</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Alright, I know that this is late for actual Valentine's,  but I really wanted to post this. It was my first ever fanfic. I have spruced it up a bit though. I would also like to emphasise the platonic relationship between Steve and the Reader.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Valentine’s Day. Anniversaries aside, Valentine’s was one of the most painful days of the year for a war widow. And it was coming.</p>
<p>You were sitting with the other Avengers, talking all sorts of nonsense, when the conversation came around to the day you had been dreading.</p>
<p>Nat had a date planned for Valentine’s Day that she was excited about. Tony and Pepper were doing something. Clint didn’t say much, but you knew he had something special planned for his wife.</p>
<p>It gradually went around in a circle until it was just you and Steve who hadn’t mentioned any plans.</p>
<p>“Well?” Tony asked, cocky grin planted firmly on his face, “does the Star Spangled Man have a plan?”</p>
<p>“No, no he does not,” Steve replied, unable to hide the small amused grin on his face.</p>
<p>“That’s a shame Cap. You know, I could help you find a date.” Nat offered.</p>
<p>“I’m OK Nat. I don’t really think rushing into anything so that I have a date for Valentine’s is a good idea.”</p>
<p>Then all eyes were on you. The familiar nausea that accompanied your anxiety and grief rose further to the surface.</p>
<p>“What about you (Y/N)?” Tony asked, not thinking very hard about what he was asking. In fairness to him, you hadn’t seem him without a scotch in his hand all evening.</p>
<p>“Tony…” Steve warned, but Tony ignored him, rosy cheeked and optimistic.</p>
<p>“Oh, come on. I bet guys are lining up to go out with you!”</p>
<p>You felt like you’d been punched in the stomach, reminded once again of how much you had lost. What you desperately missed. That gaping, aching hole in your life. Abruptly, you stood without saying anything, desperately trying to avoid the eyes of your friends, and left the restaurant.</p>
<p>You reached the hotel room that you and Steve were staying in without breaking down, but as soon as you closed the door behind you, you gave in to the relentlessly crashing waves of pain.</p>
<p>You drowned in it.</p>
<p>It wasn’t long until Steve was in your room, coming to check on you. He wasn’t surprised to see the state you were in, huddled in a safe corner, crying. He hated seeing you that way.</p>
<p>He did what he had done many times before and sat next to you, wrapping an arm around your shoulders. He didn’t say a word. He just held you until you were ready to talk to him.</p>
<p>“Sorry…”</p>
<p>“What are you apologising for?” Steve asked you quietly.</p>
<p>“I didn’t mean to make a scene. I just, couldn’t answer him. I needed to get out of there.”</p>
<p>“I know (Y/N). Tony does too. He wants to apologise later.”</p>
<p>“You know, before James left for the war, we had a conversation I never told you about.” You said quietly. It had been playing on your mind for the past week, taunting you in preparation for the big day of red roses and heart shaped boxes of chocolates. All the things you used to look forward to, once upon a time. “Neither of us wanted to have it, but we had no choice.”</p>
<p>Steve waited quietly and patiently for you to relay the conversation.</p>
<p>
  <i>“I may not come back (Y/N). We need to have this conversation.” Bucky said.</i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>“Ok, you’re right.” You replied timidly, tears already fighting to free themselves from your eyes.</i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>“If… if I die, I want you to move on.” Bucky said with a heavy voice. “Find someone to love you, who you love. Get married again. Have kids. Settle down into a happy life.” He stopped here, needing to compose himself. “I don’t want your life to end too.”</i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>You couldn’t say anything. You couldn’t imagine a life without him. But, you wanted him to be able to fight the war without worrying about you too much, so you nodded reluctantly.</i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>He embraced you, and you both sat there, in your apartment, your home, trying not to let your emotions get the better of you.</i>
</p>
<p>Steve looked at you, and held you even closer to himself. “I can’t... I can’t move on Steve. I still love him so much. I don’t want to be with anyone else.” You cried.</p>
<p>“I know (Y/N). You don’t have to be with anyone else. It’s ok that you’re still in love with him.” Steve replied. “Buck and I had a conversation before he left too, and I don’t think either of us ever told you about it.”</p>
<p>You looked at Steve with tear filled eyes, as he began to tell you.</p>
<p>
  <i>“Steve, I’m shipping off soon, and I need to ask you a favour.” Bucky began, sitting at the bar with his best friend, drinking a beer.</i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>“Sure Buck, anything.” Steve replied sincerely.</i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>“I need you to look after (Y/N) while I’m gone. And, if I don’t make it back… Please look after her. No matter what.” He looked down into his glass, watching the foam.</i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>“You know I will. I love (Y/N) like a sister, and that won’t ever change.” Steve replied, and Bucky looked at him with a weak smile.</i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>“Thanks. I know she’ll be safe with you. I don’t think she’s coping well with this…”</i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>“Of course she isn’t Buck. Her husband is going to war. She’s trying to be strong for you, because she knows you need her to be, but she’s terrified that she’ll never see you again.”</i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>“I am too. But, I want her to be happy, no matter what happens. So please, be there for her.” Bucky replied.</i>
</p>
<p>
  <i>“No matter what. I promise.”</i>
</p>
<p>You sat together in silence, not really sure what to say. You thought about what Steve had just told you. He wanted you to know that, no matter what, he was there for you. Whether you were one day able to move on, or whether you grew old unmarried, you would always have him.</p>
<p>And then a thought occurred to you. One that, maybe, just maybe, would ease some of the loss you both felt.</p>
<p>“Steve?”</p>
<p>“Hm?”</p>
<p>“Will you be my Valentine?”</p>
<p>Steve smiled his goofy smile, and kissed you on the forehead, “of course (Y/N), of course.”</p>
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